The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 674: Burlish Resistance

Chapter 674: Burlish Resistance

“I understand the situation now.

Though, I must say that your infiltration magic is quite effective. It took us some time to realize that it was even a force from Burlish that was looking for me.” Dominic replied.

“You knew that we were coming? As expected of a Wavemates Prince.”

Dominic shook his head. “Actually, it was the Merchant’s Guild who noticed first. Some of your spies pretended to be people who should have already known the answer to questions they were asking, and it made them suspicious.”

“Ah, yes. We did realize that was a possibility. However, we didn’t expect anyone to connect the dots across such a vast distance. At most, we thought that they might realize that some of the infiltrators were fakes.

Fortunately, we managed to find you, and your Wistover Duchy is everything that we could have hoped for.

There are sorcerers here, mages, Techno Wizards, and all sorts of skilled craftsmen, plus food. So much food production. Even if you are hesitant to trade us weapons, there are many other things that we would love to trade for.

As you might have guessed, we normally have to send a limited number of representatives to trade, but most of our human population doesn’t have the individual power to command respect in a trade negotiation.

So, they usually get turned away.

But when we send nonhumans, they also get turned away from most of the places we try to send them. Occasionally, we will get some business across the sands into Axbridge, but that’s becoming increasingly rare.”

Dominic assessed the situation. These were not another group looking to move to Wistover. They had a defined purpose at home, so they wouldn’t be seen as invaders.

However, they were still ostensibly an army. And the name alone would cause issues with the King.

Burlish had no agreements with Cygnia, and none with any of the other Alliance members that Dominic knew of. But that was largely because the region had no governing structure.

“I think that we can work on many options for trade agreements. Most things, other than weapons, are not an issue. Even some of the weapons should be fine. It’s just the magitech weapons that will be a real issue, as they are primarily a military weapon, and not something that you could buy from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

Technically, he did sell plenty of weapons to the Adventurers as well. But that was for Cygnian Adventurers, who were essentially militia anyhow.

“Well, we do have payment, we’re not asking for charity. If you’ll accept Monster Cores, we have plenty. We also have some rare spell gems if you’re interested. Burlish had a long history, and we have recovered a number of forgotten magics from the ruins.”

Alexis chuckled softly. “Now you’re speaking his language.”

“I take it that much of the old knowledge was lost in the tragedy of the flooding?”

Dominic shook his head. “It was lost before that. Nobody knows what happened to most of the knowledge that survived Asmodain’s rampage a few centuries ago. Either it was burnt by the Dagos soldiers, or someone removed it from the Capital.

There have been rumours about it, but as far as any of us know, everything from the old Kinewen Academy’s Library is gone and was gone long before the flooding.

All that’s left there are the basic texts for students, and some basic magical knowledge suited to a Dagos National Academy. There is nothing that resembles ancient tomes or historical documents, and there was nothing in the Palace, according to the soldiers that I interrogated.”

The topic had come up many times over the last decade while he was on the run, usually with the Dagos side being the ones asking questions. They wanted to know where that knowledge went just as much as Dominic did.

In fact, he wouldn’t have known it was missing if they hadn’t been asking about it.

General Marshall looked slightly horrified at the news that even the knowledge from the Library at the Kinewen Academy was gone. That was not public knowledge, but being a Wavemates, and a wanted war criminal, Dagos had naturally assumed that Dominic had stolen it.

Or, that’s what they were telling people while asking about it and looking for him.

“Well, we don’t have a library. Or a city to put a Library in. But we do have a number of spell gems, as I mentioned earlier. Some are rather unique or limited, others are obsolete, replaced with newer magic. But all are valuable in their own way.”

Dominic nodded. “Let’s start with that. You mentioned that your people needed food and supplies. We’ve got both in abundance here, and I have an agreement with the Merchant’s Guild.

I know that they don’t come into Burlish at all.”

Marshall nodded. “Can’t blame them, really. Most of the convoys that do move between cities bring Mountain Trolls or high-level mages with them. And even then, it’s not uncommon for them to vanish before making it home.

Our real problem is that it’s nearly impossible to safely open portals in the region. The moment that you do, monsters will swarm, or bandits will layer a portal on yours to drop whoever passes through into a trap.”

Now that was an idea that Dominic hadn’t considered. Placing a portal in front of an open portal and depositing them in a prison cell, or a few thousand metres in the air, would definitely stop anyone from trying to visit by portal after the first few times.

Burlish really wasn’t a safe place to visit, and they had even made direct travel by portal a dangerous option.

The dragonkin General reached into his storage device and took out a shining black gem, then froze in shock as something caught his attention.

“John Mackay? Have you come for a bounty on me?”

John stepped out of the shadows and shook his head. “No, I’ve not taken up my father’s trade. I’m a sheep farmer here in Wistover these days. Didn’t think that you’d recognize me.”

Marshall shrugged, clearly uneasy. “I didn’t think I would either. But your father lives in Burlish now, and you’re the spitting image of him.”

Dominic resisted the urge to sigh in relief. For a moment there, he thought that this General Marshall had recognized John as a Royal Assassin. That would have raised many more questions.